Originally Posted by sjd
Originally Posted by Gokhan
Yes, your owner's manual is the
North American owner's manual. "Except U.S.A., Canada, and Puerto Rico" in North America is Mexico. "(Mexico)" is also explicitly written above the 5w30 recommendation.
I posted the
global owner's manual in my link.
If you insist, use the Mexico conventional 5w30 recommendation but keep the longer OCI programmed into your car's oil-life monitor for the US/Canada synthetic 0W-20 recommendation, and let us know what happens.
PS: The word "except," is a common term used by vehicle OEMs in region-specific manuals. For example my factory service manual for my 1985 Corolla had three types of emissions: federal, California, and Canada. The terms such as "except Canada," "except USA," "except federal," and "except California" were used when they made reference to specific emissions parts in the manual. Of course, when they said "except USA," I knew they meant Canada, and I never interpreted it as "everywhere else in the world" as some people naively interpret the language in the Mazda North American owner's manual. That's because there were dozens of Corolla versions with dozens of different emissions systems in different countries around the world, and it was obvious that the manual only applied to California, the rest of the USA, and Canada, not everywhere in the world.
For the MX-5, many have posted pictures of their European, Japanese and Australian owner's manual and the recommendation is 5W30. It has been proven in the MX-5 community that 0W20 only appears to be recommended in Canada and the U.S.A.
Originally Posted by Gokhan
You would see a zero reduction in wear unless you race your car to the point that the minimum oil-film thickness (MOFT) in the bearings becomes smaller than the surface asperities, which is unlikely to happen in most driving conditions. Moreover, studies have shown that, until you reach that point, thinner oil results in less bearing wear. Besides, the base oil of 0W-20 is usually not thinner than that of 5w30, and that's what matters for the valvetrain and timing chain. 0W-20 is the recommended viscosity for the new BMW, Audi, etc. TGDI engines.
Actually following the Mexican recommendation and filling it up with 5w30 conventional oil as the manual says
would void your warranty because your USA oil-life monitor is programmed for longer OCIs with 0W-20 synthetic oil than what is allowed with 5w30 conventional oil in Mexico. European 5w30 recommendation is not the same as the Mexico 5w30 conventional-oil recommendation. They recommend synthetic 0W-20 as the preferred grade in Europe and synthetic 5w30 ACEA A5/B5 as an alternative to the preferred grade. In Mexico conventional 5w30 oil is recommended instead of synthetic 0W-20 oil because of the very high cost of synthetic oil there, but that comes at the expense of a reduced OCI in Mexico.
Let's get one thing clear here, I am NOT, in anyway whatsoever, considering 5W30 conventional oil so stop trying to muddy the conversation.
Whether I decide 0W20 or 5W30, I will be using Motul's full synthetic 8100. It will be changed every 8000KM as per Mazda's recommended OCI. The MX-5 doesn't have an oil life monitor. I am not saying that I won't use the 0W20, but I'd like to know why I should be using it, when Mazda recommends 5W30 in the MX-5 elsewhere. Because Mazda recommends 0W20 in North America isn't an answer.
My car will be subjected to autocross/track use during the hot summer months. I store my car in the winter so it is only driven in the summer. It was my understanding that a 5W30 is preferred for track use due to heat. I am also looking for a low SAPS oil to help minimize IVD's. Motul's 5W30 meets this requirement and I successfully used it in my 2007 Mazdaspeed6 and my 2010 MX-5 which were also both autocrossed and tracked.
This is simply
wrong.
Go ahead and post the pictures of the European, Japanese, and/or Australian manuals and let's see if any of them recommends 5w30
without recommending 0W-20.
You also keep ignoring the fact that
nowhere in your manual it says
synthetic 5w30, and the
Mexican OCI is drastically shorter because they recommend conventional oil there, as synthetic oil is too expensive in Mexico.
This is exactly how fake news is spread.
PS: In Japan the recommendation (for without turbocharger) is Mazda Golden Eco SN, which is a synthetic 0W-20. They also allow using Mazda Golden SN, which is a synthetic 5w30. Normal OCI is 15,000 km (~ 10,000 mi). This is the same global recommendation. Mexico is the only exception where they only recommend conventional 5w30 with a shorter OCI.
2019 Mazda CX-5 Japanese owner's manual
The translation is:
"*2 Genuine motor oil Golden ECO SN is an engine oil with excellent fuel efficiency. For SKYACTIV-G 2.0 and SKYACTIV-G 2.5, we recommend genuine motor oil Golden ECO SN."
Golden SN (without ECO) 5w30 synthetic is not the recommended oil, but it's allowed.
